Middle Australia comments

READ
The Secret Race. I’m sure most have, but it is explosive. Lance comes across as a complete prat.

NRL
State of biffo. How can they complain about a 1-week suspension for what would have been 3 months jail time if done off the field?

SOCCER
Its not called football here.

NETBALL
Boys shouldn’t play it.

AFL
Its always nice to come from behind and beat Carlton. Especially with Malthouse as coach and a disallowed goal that was clearly ok.

BASEBALL
High fives all round for scoring a base run (ie making it to 1st). Unnecessary supporting. Stop it.

SPORT SCIENCE
Danks for nothing

EX PLAYERS
Get fat quickly

SWIMMING
Like running, but in water

The Editor. And now over to the chairman

Footy

As the saying goes, a week is a long time in football (I think that’s how the saying goes anyway). Recently the Editor and I gathered at the ‘G with 84,000 of our closest friends to watch the Dreamtime Game. My team, the mighty Tigers, were clearly outplayed by the Editor’s team, Essendon. It looked very much like men playing boys and the 29 point margin was flattering to the Tiges. It may also explain why I spent the last quarter in the bar.

The beauty of footy is there is always a game the following week except for the end August in Melbourne’s case. On Monday night Richmond against the Eagles redeemed itself and played footy like footy should be played. They tackled hard, kicked long, marked strong and won by 41 points. The misunderstood Jake King even out Selwooded the Selwoods for getting paid around the neck free kicks. It was magnificent to watch from my home in the nation’s capital. The Editor having returned to his homeland was in the crowd at Subi as the crowd fell silent watching Richmond kick away with the game. A song should be written about the opposition winning in Perth and it could be called ‘The Sounds of Subi Silence’. There is no better sound than silence at Subiaco Oval.

These contrasts are what make footy the great game it is.

Franklin

I love footy, but there are some things I don’t like. Collingwood is one of them. Mick Malthouse is another. However that’s not my gripe on this occasion. I hate it when players see themselves as bigger than the game and believe they are celebrities in their own right. Buddy Franklin is one such player. Apart from the so called ‘Rat Pack’ he is part of, or being overly dishevelled at the Melbourne Cup there are two recent stories which have alarmed me. One is that Franklin is mates with Kevin Pietersen. Who knows why as Franklin is an AFL player originally from Perth now playing for Hawthorn and Pietersen is a cricketer originally from South Africa now playing for England as most ex-South African cricketers do. My theory is sport likes attract. Pietersen has always seen himself bigger than the English team which is probably why they booted him as Captain after a player revolt. Franklin sees himself bigger than footy so when these two “celebrities” see each other in a bar they sidle up to each other to bask in each others’ ego.

The next story which bothers me only came out last week on the AFL website and to be honest I found it nauseating. Worse than watching Alex Rance kicking across goal against Essendon (But didn’t Rance do a great job against the Weagles?). Written by Damian Barrett the title of the story is “What if Lance Franklin did a ‘Le Bron’?”. Meaning what if Franklin announced where he was going to play next year in a live TV program called ‘The Decision’ without any of his suitors knowing where he had decided. Admittedly Barrett said it was highly unlikely and that it would be crass, over-the-top, arrogant and polarising, but the fact someone is thinking about it indicates to me Franklin is being seen bigger than his current pair of footy boots. What it also means to me is that Hawthorn would be better off without Franklin next year.

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Comments

Good intro ., especially the soccer mob arrogantly claiming the noun “football” as their own. Always snigger when they criticise our game for rewarding a kick which just misses the goal ,while ignoring their joy when someone scores a goal with their noggin. Is that “football?” Only if the foot’s in the mouth i reckon…. But disagree with your opinion on L. Franklin. I don’t clock him as seeing himself bigger than the game , or his own team. Like all key forwards he’ll go for goal occasionally when he might better look for someone more likely to score . But many’s the time he unselfishly gives goals away . He’s also said often he doesn’t care how many goals he does or doesn’t kick as long as the team gets home. As for the story of him “doing a Le Bron” , it’s a total beat-up by a an attention-seeking ” journo “. Franklin himself has made no suggestion of doing that , or anything like it. Surprised you even bring it up , let alone berate him about it. Funny you find something that is only the product of someone unconnected with the subject’s fevered imagination :”nauseating.” Complete non-goer. Hawks have shown they can win without him – 6 games (i think) last year with Roughy , Hale &,Gunston. Also young Grimley now emerging. Buddy knows that . Hawthorn will be ok both if he stays or if he goes , not “better of without him.”

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